The Most Active Stocks Today Include Tesla, Nvidia, and Apple: Here's My Contrarian Take on All Three

As has been the case for a while now, technology giants Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are not only the world's most-talked-about companies, but their stocks remain the planet's most heavily traded tickers. By and large, most of the chatter and trading is bullish.

If I'm being honest, though, I'm starting to lean in a contrarian direction with all three names. That just means while the majority of the trading crowd is bullish on these stocks, I'm in the bearish minority. Here's why for each one.

Nvidia

There's no denying Nvidia retains the title of artificial intelligence (AI) processing chip market leader. It sold $89 billion worth of data center silicon last quarter alone, up 117% year over year.

The high-performance processor business is changing, however. Although graphics processing units (or GPUs) like the ones made by Nvidia are still the backbone of most newly built artificial intelligence platforms, alternatives are quickly coming into the mix. This includes more conventional central processing units (or CPUs) from the likes of Intel, but the next chapter of AI technology's story will also prominently feature chips like Alphabet's Tensor Processing Units, or Amazon's Graviton processors.

Both were built from the ground up as alternatives to Nvidia's expensive hardware. Arguably more important, both were built to serve the customers of the world's two biggest public cloud computing service providers.

Image source: Getty Images.

That's not to suggest Nvidia is doomed. Its GPU-based high-performance computing solutions will remain a marketable option. With its stock priced based on the assumption that the company is on track to grow its top line by 84% this year and then by another 44% next year, however, there's no room for error should the artificial intelligence industry start utilizing these other options more often.

Given that poor ROIs (returns on investment) remain a problem for many of the institutions embracing AI, I'm betting that many of these institutions are already shopping around for other platforms. That's the last thing the current market leader wants happening.

Tesla

The buzz surrounding Tesla's ongoing work on the AI robotics front remains palpable. CEO Elon Musk said early this year that the electric vehicle company could be mass-manufacturing and selling its humanoid assistants by the end of 2027, and he hasn't extended the commercialization timeline in the meantime.

Given his suggestion that these artificial intelligence androids -- called Optimus -- could be "the biggest product ever made" and eventually account for the vast majority of Tesla's market value, people are understandably keeping an eye on this stock.

Just for the record, though, the crowd isn't exactly plowing into the stock in droves. After a solid (albeit erratic) gain between 2023 and 2025, this stock's now down nearly 30% from its December peak.

Investors may be remembering that Musk has something of a penchant for overpromising and underdelivering, at least as far as timelines are concerned.

The short timeline that's still keeping Tesla's price mostly buoyed, however, is the problem. I don't think most investors fully appreciate how many other technology companies are working on their own AI-driven humanoid robots. These companies could bring their products to the commercial market before Optimus becomes widely available, even though it's already technically entered production at Tesla's Fremont facility.

An OpenAI-funded company called 1X Technologies is working on a humanoid robot called NEO, while Figure AI's "03" model is showing tremendous promise as an at-home assistant. Unitree, Apptronik, Neura Robotics, and AgiBot are some of the other names that are nearing readiness to enter the humanoid robot market.

It's a prospective problem simply because much of the value Tesla stock still has is based on the assumption that its android assistant will actually start being sold en masse by the end of next year, when it very well may be.

Apple

Finally, I'm adding Apple to the list of stocks that almost everybody seems to love right now, except me. That's particularly true given that it's still within reach of the record high it hit in late July as a result of its 150% rally since the end of 2022.

To its credit, Apple regrouped well enough following its disappointing foray into the artificial intelligence era in late 2024. New features have been added, and older features have been improved. Perhaps most noteworthy: Its digital assistant Siri works as well as it arguably should, given the company's once-stellar reputation.

Consumers are responding, too. After a slow patch, Apple's iPhone revenue improved by 22% during the quarter ending in June, and is up just as much through the first three quarters of the fiscal year ending in September.

Just keep your expectations in check. I am. Not only is AAPL stock almost fully valued at less than 4% below analysts' current consensus price target of $333.10, but the company's got a new CEO as well ... the second since Steve Jobs left the role.

While John Ternus is certainly capable enough, each chief executive following the bigger-than-life visionary who turned Apple into the powerhouse it is today is at an increasing disadvantage. Not only does the company not have as much opportunity to create and cultivate new consumer-technology profit centers as it used to, but competitors continue to figure out how to keep Apple in check.

For example, rather than limiting its users to a home-grown artificial intelligence solution, Apple's Siri is powered by Google's Gemini, while OpenAI's ChatGPT is readily accessible through iOS's Apple Intelligence.

The long-standing, impenetrable developmental silo that gave Apple its competitive edge is slowly fading away. For now, the stock is still being priced like it isn't.

James Brumley has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Intel, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.